December 8, 2009

A former companion of NBA star World B. Free was shot and killed last night outside the above address as she tried to break up a fight. The police say Audrey Johnson, 51, of New Jersey, was shot after she tried to stop several men from beating up her niece’s boyfriend.

Johnson was declared dead at the scene with one bullet wound in the head. In all, five shots were fired. A 14-year-old boy was struck once in the leg. He was listed in stable condition at Kings County Hospital.

“She’s just an innocent victim of gun violence,” the brother, Kenny Johnson, tells the Daily News. “She was a beautiful person.”

Update: The Daily News reports today that the man at the center of the fight that led to Johnson’s murder “played dead” while the gunfire erupted.

“Laquan Williams, the boyfriend of Johnson’s niece, had been jumped by two other men immediately before the shooting started. He lay down on the ground, as bullets struck Johnson and her nephew,” the News says.

Know anything about this case? Drop us a line at grayman@villagevoice.com.